The present invention relates to toy building blocks, and more particularly to a set of toy building blocks which can be arranged in an inexhaustible array of assemblies, while at the same time requiring the user to assemble the blocks in a selected intellectually challenging fashion.
Numerous building blocks sets are known in the prior art. However, the building block sets found in the prior art can, broadly speaking, be divided into one of two categories. The first category includes those sets in which the constituent block elements comprise extremely simple geometric shapes or the like. The second category includes those sets in which the constituent block elements are more complex in nature having multiple protrusions, cutout regions or the like.
Block sets that fall into the first category, i.e. block sets in which the constituent block elements comprise simple geometric shapes or the like, are generally versatile in that the constituent block elements can be arranged in a wide variety of ways to construct an almost limitless number of different assemblies. However, block sets that fall into the first category are also inherently limited in that due to the simplicity of the individual block elements there is no considerable intellectual challenge to the user in assembling the blocks. Furthermore, the structures built using blocks sets of the first category are generally not particularly interesting or ornamental in nature. Perhaps the best example of block sets belonging to the first category are the simple childhood block sets with which we are all familiar, i.e. block sets that merely include a plurality of simple cubic and rectangular block elements. To be sure, block sets of this type may be arranged in an almost limitless number of arrangements. However, as each individual block is simply laid on top of a previously laid block, block sets of this type present relatively no intellectual challenge to user. Furthermore, the structures that result from the assembly of blocks of this type are relatively simple in form and are not particularly appealing to the eye or ornamental in nature.
An example of a block set belonging to the second category is the block set disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,194 to Stapleton. The Stapleton patent discloses a block set including a plurality of xe2x80x9cmulti-faceted nesting modulesxe2x80x9d, that is, a plurality of block elements having a highly complex shape including multiple faces and angles. Block sets of the type disclosed in Stapleton, i.e. block sets belonging in the second category, solve some of the problems discussed above with respect to block sets of the first category, however, they have their own inherent limitations. Certainly, block elements that have a highly complex shape may present an intellectual challenge to the user to the extent that it is difficult to mate one block element with another block element. The structures that result form the assembly of the this complex block elements may be appealing to look at and ornamental in nature. However, due to the highly complex geometry of the individual block elements, blocks sets of the second category are also quite limited in the manner in which one block element may be mated or stacked on another block element. Accordingly, the number of different structures that may be constructed using these types of blocks is likewise limited.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved block set that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved block set that is intellectually stimulating and challenging to the user.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved block set in which the individual block elements comprising the block set may be arranged in wide variety of ways to thereby construct an infinite number of different structures.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved block set in which the structures generated by the assembly of the individual block elements are visually stimulating and ornamental in nature.
In accordance with the foregoing objectives, the block set according to the present invention comprises a plurality of block elements, the plurality of block elements including at least one block having a first three sided cubic recess defined by a first set of three orthogonally arranged surfaces of the block element and a second three sided cubic recess defined by a second set of three orthogonally arranged surfaces of the block element, the convergence points of the first and second recesses being aligned along a common axis which is arranged at a 45xc2x0 angle relative to the each of the surfaces defining the first cubic recess and each of the surfaces defining the second cubic recess.
The block set according to the present invention further having at least one rectilinear block element structured and arranged to be at least partially received within the first and second recesses.